Visual Merchandising and Store Design | VMSD.com

(July 2009) posted on Fri Jul 31, 2009

Energy consumption half that of a traditional store

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Hannaford Supermarkets (Scarborough, Maine) announced that its new store in Augusta, Maine, has become the first grocery in the U.S. to achieve Platinum status under the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED program. The store’s eco-friendly/energy-saving features include:

• A state-of-the-art GreenChill refrigeration system, which uses 50 percent less refrigerant gas than a traditional system.
• Doors on nearly all freezer and refrigerated cases, which save energy and create a more comfortable in-store temperature for shoppers.
• Water from two geothermal wells, located 750 feet underground, helps regulate the building's temperature.

Overall, the new store is expected to utilize about half as much energy as a typical supermarket of comparable size and amenities.

“We're thrilled to receive this certification and serve as a role model for other businesses in the retail community. We've been working to improve the environmental performance of our stores for many years,” said Ronald Hodge, chief executive officer and president of Hannaford, which operates 169 stores in the Northeast U.S. “Construction of this store will allow us to identify additional measures that we can use to reduce our environmental footprint, while maintaining competitive prices and creating a more pleasant atmosphere for our associates and customers.”